274 HASISADRA'S ADVENTURE vn 



It has been more or less rained upon, searched by 

 earthquakes here and there, partially overflowed by 

 lava streams, slowly raised (relatively to the sea- 

 level) a few hundred feet. But there is not a shadow 

 of ground for supposing that, throughout all this 

 time, terrestrial animals have ceased to inhabit a 

 large part of its surface ; or that, in many parts, 

 they have been, in any -respect, incommoded by 

 the changes which have taken place. 



The evidence of the general stability of the 

 physical conditions of Western Asia, which is 

 furnished by Palestine and by the Euphrates 

 Valley, is only fortified if we extend our view 

 northwards to the Black Sea and the Caspian. 

 The Caspian is a sort of magnified replica of the 

 Dead Sea. The bottom of the deepest part of 

 this vast inland mere is about 3000 feet below the 

 level of the Mediterranean, while its surface is lower 

 by 85 feet. At present, it is separated, on the 

 west, by wide spaces of dry land from the Black 

 Sea, which has the same height as the Mediter- 

 ranean ; and, on the east, from the Aral, 138 feet 

 above that level. The waters of the Black Sea, 

 now in communication with the Mediterranean by 

 the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, are salt, but 

 become brackish northwards, where the rivers of 

 the steppes pour in a great volume of fresh 

 water. Those of the shallower northern half of 

 the Caspian are similarly affected by the Volga 

 and the Ural, while, in the shallow bays of the 



